shoyu ramen
Soup is not a meal.

Anybody who follows me on twitter, flickr or instagram has probably seen my almost perverse obsession with making Ramen. I started this a few years ago, making something approximating a bowl of noodles, but lately I’ve been trying to up my game. Do it right.

I got serious about it.

But that’s me. In all seriousness, you probably don’t want to make this at home. If you’re lucky enough to have a noodle shop in your town, go there. Let them do the work. This is not easy. To do it right, you have to get started the day before you want to eat these. Maybe two days ahead. You can do it in a day if you’ve got about six hours to kill, but even then, it won’t be quite right. You’ve been warned.

I thought I’d blog this recipe (or rather, set of four recipes all compounded together into a bowl of deliciousness) but decided to instead plug the excellent Takashi’s Noodles from whence these recipes came. I’ve been modifying them and cutting corners the whole way, but really, this guy knows what he’s talking about and it’s a great book. One of these days I’ll try my hand at Udon.

I would also like to send a shout-out to Sanko on Queen Street West in Toronto. They have all kinds of Japanese foods and ingredients on hand including the excellent Toronto Ramen noodles from Marufumi Foods in Mississauga.